25 Interesting Facts You Need to Know About Solar Power

Solar power is the future of energy production. The consumption of non-renewable energy such as coal, oil, and natural gas, is unsustainable, and solar offers an alternative. Because education inspires change, here are 25 interesting facts about solar power, ranging from the basic to the less widely known.

Basics

Solar power uses the natural energy of the sun to produce electricity. It is sustainable and renewable.

You can use a battery as backup for your solar system, giving you a supply of electricity even on days when your home doesn’t get as much radiation from the sun. However, most modern solar systems use net metering, which is easier than storing excess energy in batteries.

Health

Solar power produces no pollution, which is a by-product of non-renewable energy consumption and one of the biggest global killers. It affects as many people as HIV or malaria and has a serious effect on children, whose bodies are often more vulnerable than those of adults.

China is the world’s leading solar producer and seeks to triple its capacity by 2020. These goals are largely tied to the fact that China’s air pollution makes it almost impossible for citizens to breathe in cities like Shanghai and Beijing.

A household rooftop solar panel system can reduce pollution by 100 tons of CO2 in its lifetime — including the energy it took to manufacture the solar panels. This can improve future air quality for humans as well as the millions of birds, fish, and mammals that are negatively affected by pollution each year.

Affordability

Solar power itself is a free source of energy, and once you’ve installed PV panels on your home, maintenance is minimal.

Most solar panels have a warranty of 25 years.

Many states allow you to sell the excess solar energy you produce, meaning you can not only earn back the cost of your panels, but you can also make a profit in the long run.

Many states also have incentive programs for solar panel installation as encouragement to switch to more sustainable energy production. Policies vary by state, so find out what’s offered in yours when considering solar for your home.

Availability and Growth

Given the constant nature of the sun, solar power is a very reliable energy source, as our ability to harvest it is dependent on just technology and location.

California is home to the largest solar power plant in the world, located in the Mojave Desert. It spans 1,000 acres.

California also dominates the solar power market, with a market share of 44% in 2015.

California, Arizona, and North Carolina are the top three US states for solar power, based on the amount of cumulative solar electric capacity installed.

Pollution can obscure the sun’s rays and stop them from reaching the Earth, so theoretically, the more humans switch over to solar power and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the greater the Earth’s capacity to harness solar energy will be.